World Ocean Radio

A weekly series of five-minute audio essays on a wide range of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects, brought to you by long-time host Peter Neill. Available for RSS feed, podcast, and syndicated use at no cost by community radio stations worldwide.

"The Earth Has One Big Ocean With Many Features."
So states the first principle of the ocean literacy curriculum, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with an overview of the various ways that the one oceanic system connects us all, with examples of the connections that occur worldwide: shipping, trade, circulation of water, watershed connections,...

This week's episode of World Ocean Radio kicks off a multi-part series on the Ocean Literacy Principles. The next eight episodes will provide an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face. We will focus not only on ocean science and the ways that the Ocean Literacy curriculum aligns with the current educational system in the United States, but also on the ways that ocean relates to climate, fresh water,...

As climate change is continually felt everywhere on the planet, how might we protect against the impacts of extreme weather, sea level rise, and more? In this episode of World Ocean Radio we outline the role of insurance companies and the ways in which insurance must adapt as a risk management tool for the world's most vulnerable.

In this episode, part two of a 2-part series on deep sea mining, we pick up where we left off by taking on the question of "what's next?" in the wake of the failures of the Nautilus deep sea mining venture in Papua New Guinea. We discuss the challenges for future exploration and extraction of rare earth minerals used in alternative energy production and question how we can justify taking these resources in our quest to develop new and innovative technologies for the 21st century and beyond.

There has long been public opposition to deep sea mining, a technology that extracts resources from the ocean floor. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill discusses the Solwara 1 deep sea mining experiment in Papua New Guinea and poses questions about the meaning of the project and its impacts on the environment and both local and national economies. And he highlights some of the various groups mounting opposition and legal action against the principle Nautilus Minerals and the...

As fisheries worldwide are being depleted by over-fishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU), interest in an ever-expanding Arctic is growing exponentially. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill outlines a 2015 meeting of five Arctic nations during which catch limits were imposed; and a follow-up meeting in 2017 in which delegates from five additional countries took the agreement a step forward toward legally binding, an effort that would prevent commercial...

In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio we discuss publications, reports, and projects that are integral to the evolution of ocean policy and science, including the Atlas of Ocean Wealth, published in 2016 by the Nature Conservancy.

Carbon offsets offer ways for retailers and consumers to help meet the challenge of climate impacts and environmental consequences, and can be an effective means of contributing to conservation. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill introduces a new W2O carbon offset initiative in partnership with South Pole and UCapture that supports progressive action toward a carbon-diminished future.

In mid-June the World Ocean Observatory co-hosted the Arctic Summer Institute in Portland, Maine in partnership with the University of Maine School of Law and the Climate Change Institute. The purpose of the week-long conference was to advance the conversation of Arctic issues and events related to climate change. In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill outlines the long-standing agenda of traditional Arctic meetings and the ways that new investigations, conversations, and...

The sea has long been a source of storytelling and of real-time adventure tales. The great futuristic tale of our time is "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne. It is a story of the submarine vessel Nautilus and her captain, Nemo. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill discusses this and other tales, as well as the evolution of submarine technology and the advent of modern day underwater tools and devices for global ocean research in unexpected places.

We live in a time when environmental regulations are being rolled back in the United States and beyond. As such, many environmental groups are turning to the law to enforce and uphold protections against industrial pollutants and fossil fuel activities such as hydrofracking that are harmful to the environment. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we share certain cases and suits brought against polluters by groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity, Our Children's Trust, and most...

On June 8th we celebrate World Oceans Day, an annual day set aside to recognize our relationship with the ocean through global connection. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we ask what Oceans Day is meant to do and question what it will take for the will of the people to translate into a voice for change toward a healthy ocean and a sustainable future.

Humankind has for centuries been connected to the cycles of the year for sustenance from land and sea. We have built our communities and our spiritual and social celebrations around the observations of the seasons and the changing light. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill discusses this rich history and today's troubling impacts of scale, global food production, climate change, and the resultant consequences of our consumption. And he praises the recent trends pointing toward...

On June 9th, 2018, a March For The Ocean (M4O) will take place in Washington, D.C. and in cities around the world. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we encourage listeners to gather in the nation's capital, to find a march in a city nearby, to organize, and to volunteer. We argue that we must declare, loudly and publicly, that the ocean will prevail and will continue to support us for generations to come if only we have the courage and the will to sustain it.

As humans migrate toward the coastal zone in the next 30 to 50 years, less seaside space will be available for us to enjoy, to entice our senses, and to rejuvenate our souls. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill outlines some of the sensate experiences that may be at risk of being lost if and when we are deprived of our connections to the sea.

On April 22nd we celebrated Earth Day, an annual day set aside to honor the environmental movement of the 70s to demand action for the health of our planet. World Ocean Radio decided to postpone talking about Earth Day this year in the hope that we might remind listeners that we must celebrate, speak out and stand up for the environment every day.